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9 Things You Need To Do Before You Have Your First Baby

The long-awaited moment of holding your newborn baby will be upon you soon (although, as I can plainly remember, not soon enough.) Before that beautiful day, there needs to be a few things on your agenda that you should totally do before you're not able to do them for awhile. No, this isn't a typical before-baby-arrives checklist, like wash the baby's clothes and pack your hospital bag. Instead, these are the things you now take for granted that may not be so easy to do once you have a little one around.

Your list should include:

1. Use the toilet by yourself

This is a pretty big one. Once that baby pops out, the chances that you'll sit on the toilet holding him at some point is pretty high. There's also nothing quite like having a fussy baby who just wants to nurse but you have to poop. Moms are nothing if not multi-taskers, right? And once Baby grows up a bit, you'll probably have a bathroom audience for years to come. Enjoy the bathroom solitude while you can.

2. Nap

Go ahead and nap, or at least try to nap. Sleeping at night while enormously pregnant can be… challenging. You feel like crap, everything is uncomfortable, and you feel like you already know what it's like to wake up a million times a night, basically because you already do. So right now, before your baby is out of your body, flop on the couch or your bed during the daytime and try to nap without distraction while you still can.

Yes, moms can and do eat food. But once you have your baby, the chances that you can eat food at the temperature it's supposed at are low. Take those two hands of yours and use them to eat your food when it's done, and relish it. Make something that's your favorite and if you have a partner, make an at-home date of it while you're both still awake during normal people hours.

4. Eat guilty pleasure food

In a few years, you're probably going to want to hide those Oreos, shakes, and chips you likley won't want your toddler to eat. Then, you'll have to eat your horrible snacks under the cover of darkness, in the hall closet, outside in your car or after bedtime. This isn't true now—you can eat your horrific, delicious snacks wherever you want.

Nobody to hold, nobody to crawl under the table, and nobody to flop on the floor amidst a pile of chewed-up bread.

5. Go out to eat

Again, moms totally go out to eat. Some go out all the time. But before you have your baby, make sure a restaurant—a nice restaurant—is on your to-do list. Nobody to hold, nobody to crawl under the table, and nobody to flop on the floor amidst a pile of chewed-up bread.

6. Clean up your house...

Either clean it up, or hire someone to do it. Enjoy those peaceful moments of a clean floor, dishes put away, laundry done and folded.

If you're not up to cleaning (which, honestly, is probably everyone reading this) or don't have the spare change to hire someone to rifle through your underwear drawer, retreat to your bedroom, binge on Netflix, and forget about the rest of your house entirely. Just completely forget it.

8. Paint your nails

If you enjoy a fresh coat of paint, use this time to give yourself a new manicure. Don't worry about your toes—we all know you can't reach them. If inclined, go out for a mani/pedi and treat yourself!